‘If there is a war, we will annihilate Lebanon’s infrastructure’

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Sunday told a Saudi Arabian news website that the decisions made in Lebanon are not made by Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah but by Iranian Prime Minister Ali Khamenei.

According to an article published about Ya’alon by London’s Arabic daily Elaph, Ya’alon’s term as Defense Minister ended because of the “submarine scandal” in which Israel bought submarines from Germany.

“There’s no such country as Lebanon,” Ya’alon said. “All of the decisions are made by Iran, not by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri or by Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah.”

“If Khamenei wants a war, then Lebanon will go go war, and every Lebanese citizen will suffer from the war, because we will destroy all of their infrastructure.”

Regarding the fact that Iran is building weapons factories in Lebanon, Ya’alon said, “I regret that this made it to the news before the factories were destroyed.”

With regards to Syria’s civil war and its spillover into Israel, he said, “Israel has red lines.” He also denied that Israel had helped Jabhat al-Nusra or any other jihadist groups.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) said at the end of June, “I want to caution the Syrian regime, which encourages Hezbollah and the Iranians to act against Israel. They cannot continue to supply Hezbollah with weapons. We will not hesitate to act if we need to.”

Israel’s relations with the Gulf States, Ya’alon emphasized are “based on mutual interests, and exposing one partnership or another is a decision which has to be made by the countries involved.”

He also said that there are “no sustainable options for an agreement with the Palestinians at this stage, but we can work together on the economy and security situation while strengthening the siege on Hamas.”

Last week, senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine promised that Hezbollah would “surprise Israel” in any future conflict, and said that Israel’s assessment of Hezbollah’s weaponry is highly inaccurate, despite their prevalent reports on the Lebanese organization’s arsenal.

In response, Liberman said, “We take everything seriously. We are certainly aware of the reports and we will do what needs to be done. This is a significant phenomenon and we cannot ignore it. Precise weapons such as these missiles are a challenge. Compared to past wars they will hit deep inside Israeli territory.”

‘Israel needs to prevent Iran from taking over Syria’

Former National Security Council Head Yaakov Amidror talks about the threat of Iran taking over Syria, turning it into a weapons launchpad.

Former National Security Council Head Yaakov Amidror at a press conference on Monday said Israel may need to destroy every attempt to build Iranian structures in Syria.

The press conference was organized by The Israel Project.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Amidror said Israel’s interests must be taken into account when considering possible peace agreements in Syria. Otherwise, the IDF may need “to intervene and destroy every attempt to build [permanent Iranian] infrastructure in Syria.”

Israel has diplomatic and military options to keep Iran from taking over Syria, Amidror said, and “both options should be used.”

“We will not let the Iranians and Hezbollah be the forces that will win the very brutal war in Syria” and then move their focus onto Israel. At the end of the day it is our responsibility, not the responsibility of the Americans, or the Russians, to guarantee ourselves, and we will take all the measures that are needed for that,” he said.

In Amidror’s opinion, Israel needs to first of all “take care of its strategic goal” of “keeping Iran and Hezbollah from building launch pads in Syria.” Regardless of how much Israel wants the Syrian civil war to end, “the price can’t be having Iran and Hezbollah on our borders.”

He also explained that the US’ goal is to destroy ISIS, while Russia’s goal is to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Iran’s success, Amidror explained, is mostly thanks to the “Iran deal” signed in 2015, which allows Iran to develop nuclear weapons either over or under the table, and legally own them in less than fifteen years. As long as Iran at least pretends to keep to the agreement, they can take steps which will change the face of the Middle East, without worrying about the possible repercussions of renewed sanctions.

“The ability of the Iranians to do what they are doing now in Syria and Iraq, and be involved in both Syria and Iraq, and their relations with Hezbollah, it is all built on the legitimacy they gained from this [nuclear] agreement.”

“The agreement is the source of all the problems. It is even more dangerous than we imagined when signed.”

The compound was largely empty on Monday apart from tourists and Jewish visitors, with Muslims again praying and protesting outside the site instead of entering through the metal detectors.

Several hundred people could be seen praying outside two different entrances to the site around midday on Monday.

There were protests after the prayer, with crowds shouting: “Aqsa mosque, we sacrifice our souls and our blood.” Police later sought to move them back.

“We will not break the solidarity of the people,” said Jamal Abdallah, an Arab who now lives in the US state of Arizona and was planning to visit the mosque, but changed his mind when he was told of the situation.

Israel installed the metal detectors after Friday’s attack near the holy site that saw three Arab Israelis open fire on Israeli police.

They then fled to the compound, where they were shot dead by security forces.

It was among the most serious incidents in Jerusalem in recent years.

Israel took the highly unusual decision of closing the compound for Friday prayers, triggering anger from Muslims and Jordan, the holy site’s custodian.

The site remained closed on Saturday, while parts of Jerusalem’s Old City were also under lockdown.

Israeli authorities said the closure was necessary to carry out security checks, adding that the assailants had come from within the holy site to commit the attack.

They began reopening it on Sunday, but with metal detectors in place, while security cameras were also being installed in the area.

‘We return terrorists’ bodies while our soldiers remain captive’

Approximately one hundred residents of the area along with members of Women in Green came to the Amos Junction (the T intersection) in east Gush Etzion on Friday to demonstrate and protest the ramming attack that occurred at the place earlier in the week and the funeral procession that they held for him in the Palestinian Authority.

Although the terrorist who carried out the attack was killed by IDF forces, the Defense Ministry returned his body to his family and a huge, noisy funeral was held for him accompanied by a “victory demonstration”. The army allowed the funeral procession while preventing movement of Jews on the main artery in Gush Etzion.

The head of Gush Etzion Council, Shlomo Ne’eman, was also present at the protest event, stating: “Self-sacrifice is what will determine the fate of this place. The People of Israel has sacrificed itself and continues to sacrifice itself every day. There is no price for this. We determine facts without prices, and the fact is that we are here forever and in order to realize this ‘forever’ we must translate it into the Israeli flag being hoisted high. The state must raise her flag and say once and for all that this territory belongs to us. We have planned our lives here as a sovereign state in a sovereign territory ever since Joshua bin Nun entered the Land. We are here forever and must be the sovereign here.”

The heads of the Women in Green movement, who organized the vigil, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, stated that the military force that eliminated the terrorist acted correctly and professionally as is required of it, but the political level, headed by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, allowed the return of the terrorist’s body, a violation of the decision of the Security Cabinet at the beginning of January 2017.

Yehudit Katsover spoke at the event, noting that while Hamas holds the bodies of Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, z”l and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, z”l, the Israeli government demonstrates weakness when it returns a terrorist’s body to his family. “We must join the call of the families of Shaul and Goldin for a change in the equation. Holding the bodies of our soldiers must be a burden and not an asset for Hamas.”

In addition, the two women stated that only the application of Israeli sovereignty over the entire territory is what will eliminate the hopes of the terrorists to remove the People of Israel from its Land, a hope that is the wind in the sails of terror. “Sovereignty will make clear our intentions to remain here forever and it will uproot terror from the root.”

Women in Green reported that a senior military figure communicated to the heads of the movement saying that the army intends to reconsider the policy that allowed the Arab demonstration accompanying the terrorist’s funeral.

The bill seeks to establish the requirement of an 80-MK supermajority in the Knesset for any diplomatic agreement ceding parts of Jerusalem to move ahead.

Minister Bennett praised the Committee’s decision. “Twice the capital city was saved from the tragedy of division spearheaded by Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, who held temporary majorities in the Knesset. This [scenario] is done for.”

According to Bennett, “The United Jerusalem Bill which passed today in the Legislation Committee will prevent plans to divide Jerusalem. Unity around the United Jerusalem Bill will strengthen our status in the world and prevent future pressure on Israel.”

Head of the Jewish Home faction MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli added that “In light of past attempts, during which two Prime Ministers tried to divide Jerusalem within the framework of dangerous diplomatic agreements, we must prevent in advance any damage to the capital city. There is an opportunity in light of the coalitional makeup to bring about the passage of the bill.”

Macron calls for resumption of peace talks

French president condemns ‘settlements,’ calls for Jerusalem to be capital of Jewish and Arab states.

Netanyahu and Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron called Sunday for a resumption of long-stalled Middle East peace talks based on a two-state solution.

“France is ready to support all diplomatic efforts towards this end within the parameters of peace recognized by the international community,” Macron said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

He said Israelis and Arabs should be able “to live side by side within secure and recognized borders with Jerusalem as the capital”.

Stressing that international law should be “respected by all”, Macron said he was referring to Israel’s “continued building of settlements” in Judea and Samaria.

“I hope everything will be done for negotiations to move forward,” he said as he and Netanyahu made joint statements to the press.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been at a standstill since the failure of US mediation in the spring of 2014.